TIJUANA  Estadio Caliente was near capacity Friday night, and the crowd was remarkably restrained as the Tijuana Xolos missed one point-blank shot after another, after Dario Benedetto failed to score one-on-one with the keeper in the opening minute, after Fidel Martinez bounced an 5-yard shot wide of an open net in the 69th minute, after Daniel Marquez couldn’t poke in a cross from even closer in injury time.

Then the final whistle sounded.

Restrained no more.

The inevitable chants of “Fuera, fuera, fuera” rained down on Coach Jorge Almiron, along with a few beer cups, after a 0-0 tie against Tigres all but eliminated the Xolos from playoff contention in Liga MX’s Apertura season. Even worse: It was their second straight scoreless draw despite playing part of the game with a man advantage.

The Xolos (4-5-6) are currently tied for ninth place with three other teams at 18 points, three points out of the eighth and final playoff spot. Currently, because all three teams – Tigres, Puebla and Veracruz – have three games remaining and the Xolos have only two, home against Atlante next week and at Leon.

“The only one at fault here is me, the coach,” Almiron said. “The players did a great job and played their best. We just didn’t have enough.”

But at least they have their health.

It was the first time all season Almiron had his full roster. Benedetto started his second straight game after missing a month with a hamstring injury and nearly went the distance. And in the 68th minute, when Herculez Gomez subbed in, it marked a dubious milestone for Tijuana:

The first time its two major summer signings had been on the same field in the same game together.

Or put another way: It took 15 games and 1,327 minutes of Liga MX soccer for that to happen.

Whether the injury card is enough to keep Almiron at the table in the high-stakes poker game of Mexican soccer is another question, likely to be answered in the coming weeks. He has been in charge of the Xolos for barely four months. His team also has four wins – none on the road – in 15 Liga MX games and only one in the last seven.

And an intriguing possibility suddenly exists.

Beloved Antonio “El Turco” Mohamed left the Xolos last June not for lack of success, having won the 2012 Apertura title and reached the quarterfinals of the Copa Libertadores, but for lack of time with his children in Argentina. He returned home and was hired by Huracan. And resigned earlier this month after a dreadful start that had the Buenos Aires club in 18th place in the 22-team league.

“Not all fairy tales end well,” Mohamed said.

But people do get re-married. Would he? Could he?

In the meantime, the Xolos continue to struggle in front of the net. Last week at Toluca, they played the final 57 minutes with a man advantage. Against Tigres, it was the final 12 after Jose Rivas received his second yellow card.